CANI released a press release today that said the following:
CANI challenges families to go “media free”
It is estimated that the average person watches more than 7 hours of television a day. That equates to more than 2,500 hours a year, or 106 days. While TV programs may be informative or educational, they also can steal quality family time. In today’s busy society, quality time together as a family is priceless. That’s why CANI is challenging local families to “disconnect” and “reconnect” during “Media Free Family Fun Week,” Sept. 20-27.
Come on now folks, seriously? The average family?
According to Nielsen (link: PDF file) in their 2010 Indistry Media Fact Sheet, the average American watches 31.5 hrs of TV per week. While CANI’s numbers are unbelievable at 49 hours a week, I still find Nielsen’s numbers a bit of a stretch.
Nielsen also reported that kids aged 6-11 only watch 28 hrs of live TV a week.
Taking CANI’s number of 49 hours per week, here’s how I see it, whether you’re a kid that goes to school or a working adult.
During the week, get up at 5:00 a.m., watch television for two hours until 7:00 a.m., then get ready for school or work. Come home from school, do your homework. Come home from Work. You all eat dinner. Then watch 5 more hours of television, say from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, start watching from say, 8:00 a.m. and watch until 3:00 p.m., (or whatever), and you’ve got your 49 hours in.
I’m guessing the section 8/welfare sloths have that much time for television while they wait on more from Obama’s stash. I’m lucky to watch 5-6 hours all week long unless there’s a good movie playing.
The CANI press release also has this:
CANI invites families to enjoy free pizza on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, 6 p.m. at CANI’s office, 227 E. Washington Blvd. in Fort Wayne, to learn about the effects of media, and receive many ideas on how to turn off the media and turn on family interaction. During the week, families can enjoy discounted activities at local fun spots. Each participating family who completes the challenge will receive one Wal-Mart gift card per family member.
Free pizza and a shopping excursion to Wally World… Oh joy!
That type of interaction is a good thing. However, how about instead, spend the money on teaching them how to escape poverty. Maybe giving them training, like preparing a resume or successfully getting through an interview, or God forbid, teaching them some job skills?
Enough with the handouts. Oh, and how about some accurate numbers?
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And how does CANI promote their anti media message? By using the same media they wish to denegrate. Sounds like a chicken/egg quandry. And who are they to tell me what to do anyway?
I received a Nielson survey once, and threw it in the trash. Shortly after, I received another survey explaining the importance of their mission and begging me to partake. I would have thrown it in the trash too, but they included a bit of cash, so I felt obliged to at least give it a try.
My television watching habits were so sporadic that a complete and accurate response would have been about impossible. I usually flip channels, watching several different programs during the same time frame. I also did other things intermittantly while watching the TV. I would also forget to fill out the survey and try to remeber the next day exactly what I watched. I tried to give good feedback, but I would suppose that my survey overstated my actual TV time by at least 4x.
Whenever I see results like the five to seven hours we all supposedly watch TV, I am always a bit skeptical.
Wow, although I can't speak to the numbers I'm all for parents turning the boob tube off and spending some time focusing on their kids. Fort Wayne would be a better city if more parents did. CANI does good work and prevents a lot of problems before they become more serious. They address the root cause (parents spending time interacting with their children) instead of they symptom (child neglect / abuse). Sorry guys, this is one where we aren't on the same page.
Shelley, I think you're missing the point. We all can agree that the less time kids watch TV, the better.
What I think I'm hearing is that CANI is working to create a whole new victim class in our town.
Remember, they're "doing it for the children". And to bolster their position that TV is bad, CANI are embelishing numbers to make their point.
I am waiting for CANI to follow up and suggest that children listen to their iPods less, and play less video games, spend less time on the computer, and watch fewer DVD movies.
It's a great goal, but why do we need to portray people as victims – especially when they have a choice.